When Kole realized he was one of the cultists, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch incessantly.
However, he soon noticed a flaw as his eyes narrowed.
Loyalty to Gradoz? But even my loyalty towards Tempest is questionable! I don't have any loyalty!
How did the Mind Storm he conjured, bypass me? Kole's eyebrows knitted in a deep frown.
Thoughts clashed rapidly as he concluded: Maybe because he had no clear loyalty, he wasn't affected.
The emerald-eyed girl looked at him with narrowed pupils, however, Kole was too busy with his own thoughts to notice something else.
Meanwhile, the man with a wooden chest dragged the two bodies out of the hall, easily and came back, stopping behind the giant.
"As I said, we are all children of the Lord." Hearing his gentle tone, the people in the hall calmed down, and even their eyes brimmed with zealousness.
"And Lord has revealed, he is coming back!"
"The day for Lord's arrival is close and he will come here—in Stormwatch to grace us with his blessing!" The giant said with a pious expression and his hands raised, even though his face was covered it wasn't hard to sense his feelings.
"Praise Gradoz!" Said the Giant.
"Praise Gradoz!!" The hooded people also clamored into an uproar, forgetting the two 'heretics'.
They praised their Lord and Kole had to join as well, albeit reluctantly.
Suddenly, the giant raised his hand, in a show to pause the shouts.
When the hall turned silent, the giant said, "We have received the blessing of Lord Gradoz in the form of these tokens!
"Two decades ago, they were called as Coin of Gradoz, but those heretics completely annihilated them! However, Lord is back, his blessings are back, and now these tokens are also back!"
"With Lord's Blessings, we were able to produce these tokens again!"
As soon as he said that, the man behind the giant opened the wooden chest that had many bronze coins.
The man holding the chest waved his hand as a gust of Spirit Energy rolled into the chambers, carrying two coins in front of each person.
Kole briefly looked at the coin. It was the same coin that people in the plaza were flipping in the air before making simple decisions.
It had a single eyeball with a vertical pupil drawn in the center etched on one side. While the other side was smooth.
When Kole looked at the coin, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up! He felt a "gaze" looking back at him!
It was a terrifying feeling!
However, just as suddenly as it appeared, the "gaze" vanished after a moment.
After some deliberation, Kole held the two coins in his hand and felt a weird sensation going through his body. As if the world in his eyes were clearer, the murkiness that hid the "thoughts" of others was no longer there.
He felt as long as he wished, Kole could read other people's minds!
A gulp!
"Take one for yourself and pass the other to someone who would appreciate the blessings of the Lord!"
What an effective scheme to recruit cultists!... Kole felt the corners of his eyelids twitch.
With that, the giant turned around as his footfalls echoed out the hallways. The man behind him followed without saying a word.
I have to take this to mom. She'd know what this is… Kole looked around for a moment and saw that other people were leaving.
He didn't waste time, placed the coins in his pocket, and quickly rushed out and went back to the Akerses' manor, his home.
…
"So, you mean, it's useless for people at the level of Ascendants?" Kole cocked an eyebrow while eating his dinner, or more like wolfing it without a shame in the world.
Faneia nodded, she played with the coin between her fingers, glancing at it nonchalantly, "The power of blessings that this has, is very limited and could only be used for normal people, not on Ascendants."
"If I use this on normal people, I would be able to know what their thoughts are. But how does such a thing work? What exactly are the principles of this 'Coin of Gradoz'? How do I protect my thoughts from people who have a more concentrated version of this artifact?" Kole took a large bite of meat and rapidly fired a series of questions.
"Hum. It's a cursed artifact that revolves around the principles of SubconciousGulf that hold the Mind Palace of all living beings."
"For you to hide your secrets, you'd need to find your own Mind Palace and shield it from the prying eyes of this artifact. As for how you'd do that… it depends on you. Or you can join the Tempest Order—where the guardians of light are shielded from these peeping eyes after they receive the Goddess's blessings."
"Okay…" Kole patted his full stomach with a satisfied smile, "Then, I have another question, who is Gradoz?"
The mother of two, said lightly, "A god that perished two decades ago."
"A God? Was he an Evil God? I saw them kill two people who had devotion towards the Goddess… Wait, if their 'thoughts' were shielded then that begs the question how were they found out in the first place? How did that Giant pinpoint the two people with his powers?" When Kole said about the murders, his expressions were nonchalant.
He didn't how easily he became used to death. But he still felt a fluttering feeling in his heart when thinking about killing a human himself with his own hands.
Faneia glanced at Kole as if she was looking at an idiot with a dry look, "Their 'thoughts' were shielded. That is how they were found out."
"Oh… Yeah… Then what about me? I am not particularly a devout of Gradoz. In fact I didn't know such a God existed."
"Well, you aren't pious toward the Goddess either..." Faniea muttered, though her expressions didn't change.
After all, it wasn't required to keep chanting the name of Goddess with absolute devotion. As long people of Treon don't believe in some evil god, it was fine whether they believed in the Tempest or not.
"As for Gradoz being an Evil God, No. He never developed a church—neither Orthodox nor Unorthodox. He blessed whoever asked for his blessing whether they had evil intentions or kind."
"Why?" Kole asked quizically. He couldn't understand the line of thought of Gradoz. Either be evil, bless people who wanted to cause mayhem, or be kind, and bless people who wanted to protect humanity!
"According to the records and revelations received by the Orthodox Churches in the era before he perished, he was known to do this for one simple reason—Art!" Faneia said while sipping on her wine.
"They said, he was looking to create the perfect Art piece and he kept experimenting while blessing everyone who prayed to him—in the hopes of finding inspiration!"
Kole's mouth slowly hung wide open, "What a maniac!"
Although Gradoz wasn't evil, his practices were anything but Orthodox… Kole was baffled beyond belief.
However, soon his eyes revealed a light of contemplation.
That's right, not all Gods are benevolent. Many are evil and that is why cults and heretics exist in the first place. Compared to them, Gradoz was more inclined towards neutrality, and just didn't care.
In fact, kind people could also receive his blessings and fight the evildoers. It wasn't as bad as blessing a group of maniacs who only wanted destruction!... Kole's thoughts halted on this conclusion as he nodded slightly.
Putting these thoughts in the back of his mind, Kole stood up with a grin.
Faneia looked at him calmly.
"Mom, you said you'd reward me if I am able to do this—"
Saying so, Kole muttered under his breath, "Subspace."
Immediately, Kole vanished from his spot.
After a moment, he appeared behind Faneia as he leaned over the chair smelling the sweet fragrance of her hair.
"Impressive. Your talent is comparable to my daughter's." She said lightly, with an indiscernible smile.
"Well, I am your son after all!" Kole grinned.
Faneia stretched her hand forward as her hand turned translucent and then pulled, and her hand turned back to normal.
In her palm, two crystal clear beads were sitting.
"Well, now you can advance to Tier 1-B!"
…
Turners' Opulent Villa, West Grovebourne.
Moonlight shone through the windows of a boudoir.
A woman with blonde hair and emerald eyes, wearing a thin lime negligee gazed out the window, absentmindedly.
"Why were you there?" She muttered to herself with a deep frown on her face.
She kneaded her temples gently as she exhaled a sigh.
"The number of my problems just keeps increasing. Hmph!" She pouted.